Secret Teacher: ‘Dear Ofsted inspector, I am giving you notice to improve’
Posted by: Sue Atkins
I know just how this teacher feels as a former Deputy Head !
Schools quake in fear of Ofsted instead of seeing it as an opportunity to get inspiring new ideas and positive feedback. The culture of blame and shame really doesn’t help schools or teachers feel valued or improve morale as everyone has become obsessed with the paperwork and league tables.
My friends who are teachers feel demoralised, overwhelmed by the paperwork and stressed, with rarely an uplifting pat on the back for the dedication and hard work they put in.
I go into a lot of schools and I see lots of dedicated good teachers, sometimes I see poor teachers and now and again I see a few really inspiring great teachers – but the culture of overwhelm is quite palpable in most of the schools I visit.
I often coach Senior Management Teams on goal setting – as I help create clarity, direction and focus as we look at the bigger picture while then taking small steps towards those bigger picture goals to eliminate their sense of overwhelm. Mainly I teach the teachers the mindset of success.
Here’s my popular MP3 The Successful Teacher’s Bouncing Back Toolkit
A school I have been in recently hadn’t realised that drawing a timeline on the staff room whiteboard always counting the days down to Friday was a massive negative mindset – even if it was written beautifully with lots of colourful swirls and fireworks.
This is a fascinating article from The Secret Teacher in The Guardian – do read it and pop into your child’s school tomorrow and tell them what a fab job they are doing with your children …. if you think they are….. !
Secret Teacher: ‘Dear Ofsted inspector, I am giving you notice to improve’